Labels

Thursday, 28 January 2016

Review - 'The Flash', S02E11 - 'The Reverse-Flash Returns'

It is a well-known, and
well-documented, trope of comic-book plot-lines that no one is ever
truly dead. No matter how
certain it seems that a character has met their final end, long-time
readers will always have that lingering suspicion that they will
return, one day - even if it does not actually happen until many
years later. With the previous episode's final moments
revealing that Eobard Thawne (who had, of course, served as the
primary villain throughout the first season of The Flash)
had reappeared, it had seemed as though The Flash
was set to follow along in that proud tradition.

Naturally, Barry is understandably
disturbed by the idea that Eobard Thawne could have, somehow,
survived - but, of course, this isn't actually the same Reverse-Flash
that he remembers. Now played by Matt Letscher, who had barely a few
minutes of screen-time in the role throughout the first season, this
version of Eobard Thawne is one who has not yet stolen the identity
of Earth-1's Harrison Wells, and who has not yet travelled back in
time to murder Barry's mother. He has not even discovered the true
identity of the Flash, yet - and, seems genuinely surprised to have
to have stumbled across the moment in history in which the Flash
first emerged.

Why he is actually here, and what he
was originally planning, are obviously irrelevant as, much like in
his previous incarnation, Eobard Thawne finds himself momentarily
trapped - requiring help to generate the energy he needs to travel
back to the future (a phrase which certain members of the cast seemed
to find quite a bit of joy in saying throughout the episode). For
this reason, Thawne kidnaps Dr Tina McGee (Amanda Pays) - forcing her
to help build a device that will generate the energy he needs.

One of the more entertaining aspects of
this episode, for me, is that the Reverse-Flash clearly had no real
intention of taking on his nemesis, at this point. It seemed as
though his arrival was entirely accidental - and, he seemed genuinely
interested in leaving as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Eobard
Thawne's arrival happened to coincide with Cisco and Harrison Well's
testing of Cisco's 'vibe' abilities. This allowed Cisco to catch a
glimpse of the Reverse-Flash only moments after his arrival - and, it
also allowed him to uncover important information which would allow
Barry to capture him and save Dr McGee. Without this, it was quite
possible that the Reverse-Flash could have come and gone without
anyone knowing about it. So, the central conflict of this episode was
based entirely on accidents and coincidences. I'm not sure why - but,
that just amuses me.

Of course, Cisco's use of his newly
discovered ability to 'vibe' images of possible futures has some
rather disturbing consequences, when it places Cisco at the centre of
classic time-travel paradox that threatens his life. It's a
development which leaves the rest of the team with a tough decision
to make regarding what to do with the captured Reverse-Flash.

It was definitely fascinating to see
the various ways in which different character's effectively 'sealed
their own fates', when it comes to their past encounter with Eobard
Thawne. Cisco took the opportunity to gloat about the part he had
played in catching the Reverse-Flash, seemingly without fully
considering the long-term consequences of what he was doing. Also,
Earth-2's Harrison Wells has his own confrontation with the man who
killed his Earth-1 double, and stole his identity. Worst of all,
though, both men let Eobard Thawne see their faces as they confronted
him - openly revealing themselves as people who are close to the
Reverse-Flash's most hated rival.

The events of the previous season all
took place in their own recent past, obviously - so, it's easy to
understand why they might make this mistake. But, for Eobard Thawne,
everything that happened in the previous season is still to come in
his own future. It was interesting, and a little disturbing, to see
his mind working as he tried to piece together all of the little bits
of information he had been given - and, how he had started to piece
them together into a new plan.

It's probably due to the fact that he
has has such a small amount of time in the role, comparatively - but,
Matt Letscher's performance as Eobard Thawne doesn't quite measure up
to that given by Tom Cavanagh, last season. But, then, that would
have to be a though act to follow. Here, Eobard Thawne comes across
as smug and arrogant, and he has some great scenes with various
members of the cast - but, he simply can't manage to come across as
naturally as intimidating as he was when he was posing as Harrison
Wells.

My main issue with this entire
plot-line, though, is that I'm just not sure I can fully accept the
writer's reasoning for bringing back Eobard Thawne. If this were just a
single moment where Eobard Thawne was able to reappear, due to being
outside of the established time-line and protected by the 'Speed
Force' (as Harrison Wells attempted to explain), then the same should
also be true of every other time that the Reverse-Flash travelled
through time. If the fact that Eobard Thawne is a time traveller
somehow protected him from being entirely removed from the time-line,
then that raises the question of why Eddie Thawne's attempt to
sacrifice himself to stop his descendant actually seemed to work in
the first place.

Time travel is a tricky issue, though -
so, it's possible that I just don't fully understand what the
writer's had in mind. But, the more I think about it, the more
confusing it seems - so, I should probably just stop, and remind
myself that we're talking about a fun series based on comic-books,
and not hard science-fiction.

It does seem to have become a recurring
trend, with The Flash, for a
single episode to try to juggle too many plot-lines - and,
unfortunately, that is also the case, here. The return of Eobard
Thawne should have been the episode's sole focus - but, instead, the
decision was made to try to find room for a variety of other
sub-plots. The gradual break-down of the relationship between Barry
and Patty received some attention, with Patty recently announcing
that she was leaving the city to study elsewhere and Barry deciding
to let her go (something which became a big issue since, apparently,
neither was willing or able to commit to any sort of long-distance
relationship while Patty studied). It was a disappointingly
anti-climactic way to end things between them. Although, having Patty
finally be able to put the pieces together and realise that Barry was
the Flash was an interesting way to end things - even if Barry was
not quite able to admit it to her.

Also,
there was time spent with the West family, with Francine West
(Vanessa Williams) reappearing, as her condition worsens. Joe and
Iris visit her in hospital and, it seems, finally make peace with the
tragic events of their past - but, Wally (understandably upset about
the situation he has found himself in) seems reluctant to do the
same. As tragic as the circumstances are for all involved, it also
provides the audience with some great moments of character drama -
particular with Iris and Wally, who are moved to reach out to each
other as they begin to establish their own relationship as siblings.
While I wasn't all that impressed with this sub-plot, at first, I
will admit that it managed to reach an emotionally satisfying
conclusion, here. I just wish it had received a bit more focus,
rather than being just another sub-plot in an over-crowded episode.

Similarly, Jay
Garrick's role on the show still remains a frustrating disappointment
for me. The previous episode's revelation that he was sick, and that
the only possible cure was to somehow get his own super-speed powers
back from Zoom, was a welcome addition, sure - it did, after all,
finally give the character a clear focus that he had been lacking up
until this point. But, the continuation of that plot-thread, here,
amounted to little more than an unnecessary diversion.

Here, we had
Caitlin setting out to track down Jay's Earth-1 double, in the hope
that doing so might allow her to help treat Jay's condition. It made
sense - with Caitlin's insistence on helping Jay clearly being driven
by her desperation to not lose someone else she had come to care for.
But, then we find out that Jay had already thought of that - he had
already tracked down his double, and already discovered that there
was no hope for a cure, there. The entire purpose of this sub-plot,
it seems, was simply to reiterate the point that Jay's only hope of a
cure is to defeat Zoom and have his powers restored. Honestly, it was
a point that was made perfectly well in the previous episode - and,
with so much else going on here, it just ended up feeling like a
frustrating waste of screen-time to go over it again.

The revelation
that, thanks to an adoption at a young age, Jay's Earth-1 double
actually goes by the name 'Hunter Zolomon' does seem to hint at more
interesting developments coming in the future, at least - since,
that's another name which should be familiar to fans of DC's comics.
But, the vague and unfocused way in which the show has used a
character as important as Jay Garrick throughout the season remains
one of the show's most disappointing elements.

Each of these
sub-plots deserves screen-time, sure - but, when measured up against
someone as important as the return of Eobard Thawne, they all just
started to feel a bit out of place. It feels as though each would
have been better served by being left for a later episode, where
there would have been more room for them to develop. As it was, the
combination of one major plot-line with three separate sub-plots
resulted in an episode that felt messy as a whole, regardless of the
quality of each individual part.